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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27948341">Heart for Brains</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/teenbeachstan/pseuds/teenbeachstan'>teenbeachstan</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Avatar: The Last Airbender</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Zombie Apocalypse, Fast Zombies, Idiots in Love, No Beta, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Partially Deaf Zuko (Avatar), We Die Like Men, also kind of a mystery type thing, but still in highschool, focuses on romance and on action based stuff, im a whore for apocalypse tropes, mentions of child abuse, not those dumb slow ones, that gets brought up a little later</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 23:34:34</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>4,604</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27948341</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/teenbeachstan/pseuds/teenbeachstan</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Sokka looked at his phone, hidden from the teacher's view under his desk, as he waited for the day to be over.<br/><em>30 more minutes,</em>His head had chanted to him. <em>Then I'm out of here.</em><br/>Then the girl seated in front of him dropped like dead weight from her desk, foaming at the mouth. With dread pooling in his stomach, he knew this day was far from over.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Minor or Background Relationship(s), Sokka/Zuko (Avatar)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>74</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Dead Weight</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>hey! as u can see from the tags, i love zombie tropes, so i will definetley be putting some major effort into updating this. i know ive been slow with updating fics, but school is way too time consuming. thankfully winter break is coming so ill be able to write some more!! also, some of the text glitched :(( soz</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Sokka leaned on his elbow, feeling bored out of his mind. It was the last class of the day, and the fact that it was History made it go by slower. The teacher's dull voice didn't help much, either. Sokka's foot tapped restlestly as he looked to the clock above the door. Then he realized that he forgot how to read the hands of a clock, (As a Senior, really?) so he decided to sneak a peak at his phone under the desk. Ignoring the alarming amount of notfications from the news artciles Katara had subscribed him to, he looked to the pixelated numbers on his screen. It read 2:30 PM, leaving him stuck between relief of the fact that there was only half an hour left, and the dread of the fact that there was half an hour left.</p><p>Sokka decided to stick with relief.</p><p><em>'30 more minutes,'</em> His head chanted to him. <em>'Then I'm out of here.'</em></p><p>There was a sudden, loud <em>Thud!</em> less than three feet from him. Sokka, along with the other students, looked to the source of the noise.</p><p>Ji Chen, a junior who had transferred just this year, was slumped on the ground, gargling and vomiting some strange substance onto the ground next to her. Her face was unreasonably pale, dark viens crawling up from her neck.</p><p>The teacher immediately ran to her aid along with a few other students, but most, like Sokka, stared in shock when they realized that the substance Ji was vomiting was <em>chunks of blood.</em></p><p>"Miss Chen, can you hear me? I think you're having a seizure." The teacher, Mr. Wang, failed to hide his grimace as the smell of blood filled the room, a metallic pungency that made Sokka want to vomit. "We're gonna get you help, alright?"</p><p>Sokka felt the blood drain from his face as he clutched his stomach, which was pooling with so much dread that it started to hurt.</p><p>One of the students helping the girl pulled out her phone, to dial 911, he assumed. He watched her face change to one full of fear, slapping a hand over her mouth. Everyone else started pulling out their phones, and Sokka, realizing his was still on, looked at his phone as well. He started to read those notifications he had so blatantly ignored, hoping to find an explanation within them.</p><p>Sokka's eyes widened as he read the most prevelant topic: <em>There was an outbreak</em> (Of what?! What's going on?!)<em>, and they are advising everyone to evacuate major cities.</em></p><p>He ran his hand through his hair, one thought racing through his mind- <em>He needed to find Katara.</em></p><p>Before Sokka could mentally map out the best route to Katara's AP Chemistry class, Ji began to stand on wobbly legs, her bones crunching beneath her. Mr. Wang attempted to help her stand, but she gripped on to his arm so hard he let out a cry of pain. Sokka watched in horror as Ji latched her teeth onto his cheek, tearing so much skin that all he could see was <em>blood, blood,</em> and all he could <em>hear</em> were screams of terror as his classmates watched their teacher be eaten alive. </p><p>Sokka was running outside of the classroom before he could even process what he has just witnessed. His feet carried him towards the main building, towards Katara's classroom.</p><p><em>'Please be okay,'</em> He thought to himself, over and over, as he tried to send a quick and somewhat coherent text to he and his friend's groupchat.</p><p>
  <em>Sokka:</em><br/>
<em>coimINhg frioM fimne artzs budldinhg. gikrl justr ate thje teacger. mheetv me in teacher sloynge. plz.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Aang:</em><br/>
<em>im with Toph in the english building?? what happened??</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Katara:</em><br/>
<em>Sokka, this better not be a prank or something. I'm in the middle of of test.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Sokka:</em><br/>
<em>IMN NOT JOKIN G. teacher s lounge</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Suki:</em><br/>
<em>dude, i believe you. i just had to fight 2 kids from my art class bc they tried to take a bite out of my arm. hiding in the fine arts bathroom rn. omw</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Aang:</em><br/>
<em>ok we're coming. nothing like that happened by us yet but i dont really wanna wait to find out if you're for real</em>
</p><p>Sokka haphazardly shoved his phone into his pocket, relieved that Suki and Aang had believed him. Expectedly, Katara hadn't believed him, but he was only a few doors away from her classroom anyway, so it wasn't like it mattered.</p><p>Sokka almost passed up a storage closet, but for once he had enough common sense to stop and grab <em>something,</em> just in case. Disappointingly, the best thing he could find was a wooden broom, but he guessed that it was better than nothing. He wished for his boomerang that he had left on his bed.</p><p>As Sokka got closer to the door, he could hear shouting from inside the room, and he found himself praying to the Spirits that he hadn't prayed to since he was a small child.</p><p> </p><p>He opened the door to the smell of copper and vomit slapping him in the face. People- students were attempting to run from each other, or towards, Sokka couldn't tell. He couldn't even tell who was normal and who <em>wasn't</em> just from the sheer amount of blood that covered them all. A guy who Sokka recognized from the swim team was trapped under a pile of desks, arms flailing, screaming in anguish as the other students devoured him, knawing on his flesh like it was cake.</p><p>Sokka forced himself to look away. He searched the room for Katara, quickly spotting her near the front of the room helping another guy throw chairs at.. <em>them.</em> He couldn't recognize the guy, his black hair matted to his cheeks from the now drying blood. It was easy to see that they were running out of chairs, and he'd be damned if he let his little sister get eaten by those things, so he took a deep breath and started swinging.</p><p>Thankfully, majority of the class was still feasting on the guy from the swim team. The few who were more interetsed in his sister and the other guy were being repeatedly knocked down by plastic chairs, so all Sokka had to do was stab the end of the broom through their heads to keep them down (which isn't as easy as it sounds, by the way).</p><p>When Sokka reached them, he motioned to Katara and the other guy to leave with him, trying to stay quiet in hopes that those things would stay distracted long enough for them to make it to the teachers lounge. Katara sprinted out the door, with Sokka starting to follow suit, but other guy just stared at him. Instead of trying to talk him out of his obvious shock, Sokka just grabbed his hand, the blood on both their palms and fingertips sticking together.</p><p>Wordless, the three of them rand towards the teachers lounge. They surprisingly didn't run into any more of the.. infected, and Sokka guessed that most of the gore was somehow being contained within classrooms- the wails that passed through the halls confirmed that theory.</p><p>Katara was the first to reach the door to the teacher's lounge, only to find it locked. She pulled, hard, fist banging on the wood. When there was no response, Sokka pressed his mouth near the small, narrow window in the center of the door.</p><p> </p><p>"Please, if anyone's in there, <em>please</em> open the door,"</p><p> </p><p>He heard people move inside the room, and he squeezed the guy's hand (which he was still holding?) as a way to try an comfort his anxiety that was currently skyrocketing.</p><p> </p><p>Sokka spotted an orange hoodie from the small window, coming closer. "Sokka? Is that you? Is Katara with you?"</p><p> </p><p>"Yes and yes, Aang, with one extra, now please let us in before we get feasted on like we're Appa's dog food."</p><p> </p><p>There was a small click, and the three rushed inside. Katara flew into Aang's arms, with him immediately squeezing her tight, then scrunching up his face in distaste at the smell of literal death.</p><p> </p><p>Suki locked the door behind them, somehow managing to shoot a smile at Sokka. She looked between him and the other guy, then to their hands which were still interwined. Sokka immediately took his hands away, trying to wipe the blood on his somewhat dry uniform pants. Man, his dad was gonna kill him for staining his pants.</p><p> </p><p>The other guy pulled a ponytail off his wrist and tied his hair up, attempting to wipe his face with his forearm as he did it. Sokka couldn't help but let his mouth drop open.</p><p> </p><p>"Zuko?!"</p><p> </p><p>Zuko paused, keeping his hands in his hair. His eyes slid to Sokka's face. "Yes?"</p><p> </p><p>Sokka shook his head, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I just- didn't really.. expect you?"</p><p> </p><p>"What, were you expecting me to let myself get eaten or something?" Zuko rolled his eyes, continuing to tie his hair up. "Do you not remeber when I kicked your ass Sophomore year?"</p><p> </p><p>Sokka let out a squawk of offense, throwing up his arms. "I thought you apologized for all that stuff last year! What happened to 'leaving it in the past' and 'turning a new leaf'?!"</p><p> </p><p>Before Zuko could retort, Katara stepped in between them. "Look, I don't like Zuko that much either," She stared at said Zuko, who looked away sheepishly. "But now is definitely not the time to argue."</p><p> </p><p>Sokka took a deep breath, folding his arms. "Okay, Katara's right. We need to make a plan on how we're going to get off of campus unscathed."</p><p> </p><p>Zuko used his tie to wipe at his mouth. "I have the keys to my motorcycle with me, if that helps?" He said, shrugging.</p><p> </p><p>"That would only fit about two people max," Toph said, pushing Zuko slightly. "We're a group of six. We need a car,"</p><p> </p><p>Katara nodded. "I have a car that can fit up to eight, but there's one problem," She looked at Sokka. "My keys are in my purse, which is in the AP Chemistry classroom."</p><p> </p><p>They all sat in silence, trying to think. They could either attempt to leave on foot, which would most certainly lead to death, or they could go all the way back to the hell hole they had just escaped from to maybe have a chance at retrieving Katara’s keys. </p><p>At this new found silence, Sokka could hear the shouting and footsteps more clearly now. And it was getting.. closer?</p><p>Sokka looked to the small window in the door, watching as hundreds of students screamed as they raced down the halls, the infected coming close behind them, grabbing at those who happened to be stuck at the end of the horde. He watched as a particularly small freshman was snagged and pulled down, crying out as they ripped at his face and torso, skin tearing almost easily.</p><p> </p><p>He couldn't watch.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. (not so) Grand Escape</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>dropping the playlist! feel free to look at any others i have lol ;)<br/>https://open.spotify.com/playlist/75PDMDkVvX6JRG0q5TA9Xk?si=pxezyxpkQKWcUOxYnmblyQ</p><p>i spent like 2 days writing this chapter and its still shit 🙄 shaking my head</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>But he did watch.</p><p>Sokka’s eyes stayed glued to that small window. As he watched the scene unfold in front of him, nothing but a thin piece of wood separating him from it, he felt the bile rise in his throat. He could almost taste leftovers he had for lunch a few hours ago.</p><p>Next thing Sokka knew, he’s vomiting, the burn in his throat being comforted by cold hands rubbing his back and holding his wolf-tail away from his face. He looked up to see Katara, beckoning for someone to bring her water. He could also see Zuko furrowing his brows for.. whatever reason, Sokka wouldn’t know.</p><p>After Katara forced many cups of water onto him, he felt like he could finally think. </p><p>Clapping his hands together in the way he always did, he looked around at his friends, gaining their attention. “Okay guys, I have a <em>plan</em>. It’s gonna be risky, but we either do this or run for it and pray that we can all fit on Zuko’s scooter-“</p><p>“Its not a scooter, its a <em>motorcycle</em>,”</p><p>“Yeah whatever,” Sokka cleared his throat, unintentionally irritating his raw throat again, but he attempted to ignore the pain. “<em>Or</em>,” He said, pointing to the layout of the school, usually used for planning a escape if theres a fire. They were using it for escaping, alright. “We can make a run for it to the gym, and find things to defend ourselves in the sports storage.” Sokka slid his finger across the drawn main doors and hallways. “Then we can circle back to this building, and go after Katara’s keys. Sound good?”</p><p>Everyone looked a little unsure, but he knew most of them would trust his idea. </p><p>Key word, <em>most</em>.</p><p>Zuko was the first to shake his head. “The general idea is fine, but we dont know where the infected are right now. They’ve definitely moved to where more people are,” He pointed to the main exits and entrances on the layout. “So going through the areas where people are most likely to be, like the main doors, is not.. amazing.”</p><p>Toph tapped her chin, mimicking that of a wise, old man. “I think Sparky’s right. We should be trying to find back doors or routes that most students dont take,” </p><p>Sokka felt the gears in his head turning. Sure, he had run from hall monitors a few times when he got caught skipping, but he hadn’t really memorized where people <em>wouldn’t</em> be.</p><p>Then it hit him.</p><p>Sokka made exploding gestures with his hands, dramatically showing that the lightbulb had gone off. “The ceiling!” </p><p>Aang raised his brow. “The ceiling..” He looked up, then back to Sokka, a grin on his face, showing his Bro Understanding. “Yes! The ceiling!”</p><p>Toph folded her arms. “Why are we yelling about the ceiling?”</p><p>Sokka ignored Toph, which she kicked him for, but he was too full of the rush from the idea he just had in his stroke of genius. “New plan!” He grabbed the nearest chair he could find, standing on it so that he could reach the tile. “I’m gonna need Aang and Toph to climb into the ceiling and poke their heads out in different rooms near where the zombies are most populated.” He started pushing on the tiled square, making it come loose. “Lure them away from where we will be passing through, and update with texts.”</p><p>Sokka couldn’t help but look at Zuko, kinda hoping he approved of his plan (but it’s not like he cared <em>that</em> much. he just wanted a second opinion). Zuko had his brows furrowed, yet again. </p><p>“Okay, well, er, continuing,” He pointed his finger in Suki and Katara’s direction. “You two can try and reach the nurses office down the hall if you can to find supplies, if not, just stay here and try to find us the least populated exit from the school.”</p><p>Then, he turned to Zuko, shooting him a smirk. “Then it’s just you and me, buddy,” Zuko opened his mouth to speak, but Sokka was sure to cut off any of his objections. “Dude, you were on the track team for like, 3 years. You can keep up with <em>me</em>, and can carry shit while running, so we will be the ones making a mad-dash for the gym.”</p><p>He watched Zuko take a a deep breath, nodding his head. “Yeah, okay,” The corner of his mouth twitched upwards. “<em>Keep up with you?</em> Please, I’m the fastest runner in the school,”</p><p>Sokka shrugged, feigning indifference. “I guess you’ll have to <em>race me.</em>”</p><p>Katara scoffed. “Of course you two would find a way to turn a life or death situation into a competition,”</p><p> </p><p>After successfully getting Toph and Aang into the ceiling, the four of them waited for the “go” text. Though it only took about five minutes, it felt like hours had stretched on, Sokka’s nervousness and anticipation mixing together. </p><p>There was a faint yell a few doors down, and they all looked towards the small window facing the hallway. A handful of zombie-things were <em>sprinting</em> towards the sound, clearing the hallway. </p><p>He took a deep breath, and opened the door.</p><p>Sticking his head out of the doorway, looking from his left to his right, he motioned for Zuko to follow him. He could hear Katara and Suki’s footsteps moving in the opposite direction, hoping that they would be able to reach the nurses office. </p><p>The school hallway stank. The odor of excrement stained the floors, depressingly mixed with that same metallic smell that constantly filled Sokka’s nostrils. Rounding the next corner, he could read the banner he saw almost every day when he walked down this hallway: “The child in pursuit of knowledge, not knowledge in pursuit of the child." Sokka couldn’t help but chuckle to himself, trying his best to ignore the heaviness that was weighing on his chest. </p><p>He ran as quietly as he could, sometimes holding his breath in hopes that any infected persons wouldn’t be able to hear his heavy breathing. Sokka made sure to listen for Zuko’s light footsteps following behind him.</p><p>He turned again, only this time, to a hall full of zombies (Yep, thats what he was going to call them now,). About fifteen or so crowded around the sparse amount of classroom doors, no doubt, after somewhat living students locked inside. </p><p>Sokka backed up, looking back at Zuko asking the silent question, <em>”What do we do?”</em></p><p>Zuko stared at the infested hallway, lips pressing together in a thin line. Sokka watched his eyes slide from the crowd to the long line of comnected lockers, then turning to face him again. </p><p>Zuko pressed his lips as close as they could get to Sokka’s ear, his hot breath making the other man shiver. “I have an idea, but we have to be <em>very</em> quick.” He whispered. </p><p>Sokka nodded his head in agreement, trying to shake off the fact that the right side of his face felt like it was on <em>fire</em>.</p><p>Then suddenly, Zuko was grabbing his hand, sprinting towards the lockers. Once they reached them, he climbed to the top, trying to pull Sokka up as quickly as he could. The aluminum made noise as their weight was heaved onto it, leading to about five zombies out of the crowd running towards them. One of them just barely missed grabbing Sokka’s foot, which almost made him shit himself, by the way.</p><p>The more noise the few made, the more that were starting to be attracted to them. </p><p>Sokka felt the panic rise in his <em>being</em>. “Zuko?! What do we do!” He tried his best to keep his voice low, but it ended up coming out a squeaky plea, still. </p><p>Instead of responding, Zuko stuck his hand in his pocket, pulling out his phone. He threw it a few feet away from them, making a loud <em>Crack!</em> as it landed. This turned the small crowd they had been collecting away from them, running towards the noise. The two crawled along the top of the lockers, towards the exit that would lead them to the breezeway. </p><p>After shutting the door closely behind them, Sokka turned to Zuko with his arms thrown in the air. “Dude! Why would you just <em>throw your phone?</em>” </p><p>“I don’t- didn’t, use it much anyway,” Zuko shrugged. “It was a.. gift from my father.”</p><p>Sokka didn’t bring up the phone again after that.</p><p> </p><p>The breezeway was surprisingly empty. Sokka guessed that it must have been because the zombies hadn’t figured out how to use doors yet, and then that made him think about when they would figure out how to use the doors. That definitely <em>wasn’t </em> an idea he wanted to entertain. </p><p>Once they had gotten closer to the gym, Sokka put a hand on Zuko’s shoulder, stopping him. “I know a way in  that isn’t a main entrance, if you want to use that.. just to be safe?”</p><p>He didn’t really mean to phrase it like a question, but Zuko just nodded his head anyway.</p><p><em>Apparently</em>, Zuko thought that Sokka had meant some type of secret door leading from the bathroom to the gym, not the window that was <em>just</em> able to let them each slide through. Sokka just argued that it was still more convenient, considering the fact that it was the only direct way into the storage room. </p><p>“I can’t believe that your fat-ass fit through that window,”</p><p>“There are <em>many things</em> that this ass can do, Hotman,” Sokka said, shooting the other man a wink. Zuko rolled his eyes, but Sokka swore that he saw the faintest blush dust Zuko’s cheeks. Though, it could have just been the blood that he hadn’t been able to wipe off.</p><p>They rooted around for anything that could be used well in self defense. Sokka found the baseball bats and a few boomerangs (which he rejoiced for, but realistically, it wouldn't really work). He then realized he could only carry one baseball bat while running, due to its weight.</p><p> He looked towards Zuko. “Hey man, did you find anything useful?” Zuko held up three.. weird hockey sticks? </p><p>Seeing the confusion in his face, Zuko sighed. “They’re Hurleys. It’s kind of similar to a baseball bat, but lighter and easier to swing,”</p><p>
  <em>Huh. The more you know.</em>
</p><p>“I think I’m gonna stick with a baseball bat,” He took a practice swing, almost knocking down a row of tennis balls. He then grabbed a tennis ball and tucked it into his mega-pockets, just because he could. “I used to play in middle school.” </p><p>Zuko huffed. “That’s a big gap between you then and you now.”</p><p>“I know that, dummy! I was just confirming that I had <em>experience</em>,”</p><p>“Well, if your <em>experience</em> gets us killed, I’m going to strangle you in the afterlife.”</p><p>After somehow squeezing through the window again, Sokka shot a text to his sister, checking in. She responded almost immediately, giving Sokka the sigh of relief he needed. </p><p>“What was that sigh for?” </p><p>Sokka tucked his phone back into his pocket. His phone was at 45 percent, and he <em>needed</em> to save his battery. “It was just Katara. They weren’t able to make it to the Nurse’s office because a couple of.. sick people had gone there for help but, well, you know,”</p><p>Zuko ignored him. “How are we getting back into the school?” </p><p>“Uh,” <em>Shit!</em> “I didn’t really think that far..” He said, rubbing the back of his neck.</p><p>Zuko grunted, his mouth pressing together just like it had in the hallway. Sokka was starting to recognize this expression as ‘Zuko’s Thinking Face’.</p><p>There <em>was</em> a more narrow hallway connecting the gym and the main building, but narrow means risky. If they went back the way they came, they’d have to try and take on more than fifteen zombies with just the two of them, which were odds that Sokka didn’t really want to test out. </p><p>Finally, Zuko stared at him with an uncomfortable look on his face. “I know you probably won’t be on board, but it’s the best thing I could come up with,” He leaned against the wall, fingers playing with the handle of the Hurley. “We can make it to the parking lot, find a car that can fit us all, and you can hot-wire it.” </p><p>“Me? I’ve never hot-wired a car!”</p><p>Zuko placed a finger over Sokka’s lips, shushing him. “Keep your voice down. And yes, you can. You’re literally the president of the robotics club,”</p><p>Sokka felt his face burn. “You know I’m the president of the robotics club?”</p><p>Zuko looked away, and towards the parking lot. “Anyway, we can pull the car up close enough so that the others can come to us. Its a big chance that we all make it out, so its your choice if you want to take the risk,”</p><p>Sokka thought about their options; fight a bunch of zombies and die or Zuko’s plan?</p><p>He sighed. “Well, we might as well give it a shot.”</p><p>Zuko scaled the chain-link fence like it was almost nothing, leaving Sokka to almost impale himself on the protruding pieces of metal.</p><p>The senior parking lot was only occupied by a few stragglers, but being out in the open with them still made Sokka nervous. </p><p>They crept around the cars, ducking, looking for one that could be possibly unlocked. After trying at least five cars, they stumbled upon an unlocked 1995 Toyota Picnic. Sliding into the drivers seat, Sokka immediately got to work (or at least, tried to get to work).</p><p>“This can’t be that hard, right?” He laughed nervously- he needed to get this right, or they would all probably die.</p><p>Removing the ignition switch, he made Zuko hold his phone flashlight while he looked for the two wires he assumed that he would need to connect. Since it was an older car, he knew the wires he needed were more likely to be exposed. After trying out a few connections, the car came to life, headlights flickering.</p><p>“Yes! I did it!” Sokka put his hand out, expecting a high-five, which Zuko unexpectedly gave him.</p><p>He pulled out his phone, dialing Katara’s number. </p><p>She gave it no time to ring. “Yes?”</p><p>“Big news! I just literally hot-wired a car, dear sister.”</p><p>“Ha ha! Snoozles is a criminal!” This voice was <em>not</em> Katara’s, instead, Toph’s words rang through the phone.</p><p> Suki’s voice even found its way in. “You’re on speakerphone, by the way.”</p><p>Sokka played with the hem of his sweater. “Yeah, you guys are too. Say hi, Zuko,”</p><p>Zuko leaned over the center compartment. “Hello, Zuko here,”</p><p>Several <em>Hi’s</em> were repeated, and Sokka felt like it was all.. oddly normal. Then, he saw a zombie sprinting towards the car, and the small moment of normalcy shattered. </p><p>“Okay, well, we are currently being approached, so new plan: You guys are gonna meet us out here. Go through the girls bathroom down the hall and use the door the leads outside, ya know, where all the mini Zuko’s go to smoke-“ “Really?” “And we’ll scoop you there. Please run like your ass is on fire.”</p><p> </p><p>Watching Zuko lean out the window to swing some type of Irish sports stick at a zombie’s face was the best thing Sokka had seen all week (well, except for when there weren’t zombies, and he was still complaining about having no meat for lunch). He did his best to drive slow, trying not to attract any attention from the stragglers in the parking lot. </p><p>Right as they pulled up to the door where the others would come running through, they did just that. </p><p>Except, about three zombies were following suit.</p><p>Zuko jumped out of the car, flinging the backdoor open. Sokka squeezed the steering wheel, his knuckles turning white. He wanted to jump out and start <em>swinging on those bitches</em>, but he was the driver. He had to be ready to go.</p><p>Katara, Aang, and Toph piled into the backseat. Suki had somehow gotten ahold of Zukos Hurley-thingies, and was now bashing in the heads of crazed-once-people alongside Zuko himself.</p><p> All of the noise was starting to attract more of them, so Sokka did the best thing he could think of, and hummed the tennis ball from his mega-pocket into the window of a random car, setting the alarm off.</p><p>He had never seen something run so fast, except maybe in those wildlife documentaries he watched with Aang.</p><p>They clawed at the windows, smashing them in, and filling the inside. The gargled noises they made filled his ears, and he almost forgot where he was until Zuko yelled, “Fucking drive!”</p><p>He pressed on the gas as hard as he could, and they drove.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Hey😏</p>
        </blockquote><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>i have a playlist on spotify dedicated to this LMAO might drop the link</p></blockquote></div></div>
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